100 Layer Cake

26 Apr

Dress for the Royal Wedding with The Outnet Wedding Shop

Part of the fun of the Royal Wedding is most certainly the fashion. And imagining what you would wear if you were in attendance! Obviously something very fancy and fashionable and expensive… this is a dream remember. And you can certainly carry that spirit into any weddings you’ll be attending this spring, and your own of course!

The Outnet is launching their spring wedding shop today and for those of you who are not well accquainted with The Outnet yet… it’s a whole site full of awesomely high-end apparel sold at 60-70% off. Tis like an internet Mecca for those who worship clothes and purses and shoes.

And it is a must-visit for those of you looking for your own wedding ensemble and/or a smashing bridesmaid or guest dress. We can say from personal experience, it’s a most excellent place to shop. Which makes us even more excited that they have a wedding shop!

Get over there and check out what they’ve put together this season. Their pieces tend to sell out fast so click click click! And don’t be a stranger. You can shop The Outnet any time for any occasion. We do love it over there.

26 Apr

Royal Wedding Week: London guest tote

categories Favors + Gifts

We haven’t done a guest tote in so long! But we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to share a tote from across the pond. Surely the royal family has their own version of a tote for those who are flying in from around the world. Can you imagine what kind of goodies they’d include?

Ours is just for commoners, but surely you all can relate.

1. London tube map
2. Oliver Twist
3. Twinings English Breakfast tea packets
4. Union Jack tea cozy
5. Elegant and English Artisan Biscuits
6. Cadbury’s Dairy Milk
7. Time Out London
8. Liberty of London hankie
9. Umbrella
10. London Tower Bridge tote

We’re going to do some more guest totes from reader-recommended cities soon!

25 Apr

Royal Wedding Week: Bridal Shower Tea Party

categories Bachelorette + Shower

In keeping with our fabulous week of royal-inspired wedding festivities & style, we have the most divine little kitchen tea party themed bridal shower to share with you! Tea parties are totally making their way back into style with a vengeance, and one look at this will have you itching to plan your own. Such a cute idea for a shower, girls-only engagement celebration, or even just a Spring weekend!

The styling was done by Romi of Bo Peep Productions, and we love, love all the crisp white and delicate, rustic details like the beautiful tarnished silver teapots. Hello Naomi went all out with the sweets, which are beyond amazing looking – vanilla bean buttercream cake, cake pops, vanilla + coconut macarons, scones, profiteroles, belgian white chocolate rocky road, lemon glazed knot cookies, white chocolate apples and finally, sponge rolls. Toooo good.

Each guest was also asked to bring a vintage tea set trio (cup, saucer, and cake plate) as a gift to the bride. The end result is the most eclectic and beautiful special tea set that she can use forever and ever. Could you imagine? What a perfect idea!

As a sweet and unique little favor, the ladies were able to create their own special bath tea using a variety of provided ingredients (or by following their suggested recipes!) They had all kinds of yummy, tantalizing ingredients like oatmeal, lavender, rose petals, goats milk powder, lemon verbena, epsom salts, and more essential oils than you could dream of. Each bag was heat sealed & returned to the guest to take home. Ah! We want one!

Perfection. We love this pretty tea party so much. Thanks for letting us share!

Styling by Bo Peep Productions / Photography by Natalie Hunfalvay / Cakes by Hello Naomi

25 Apr

Royal Wedding Week: homemade shortbread favors

categories DIY Wedding, Favors + Gifts

We thought we’d start Royal Wedding week off with a yummy idea for favors fit for an English wedding. Buttery delicious shortbread, of course!

The excellent thing about shortbread is that it keeps for a really long time when stored in an air tight container. And it’s extraordinarily simple to make. So you could potentially make enough for your whole wedding a few weeks or even a month ahead of time, and then package it up the day before. Or skip the packaging and leave a few platters and a stack of cute bags next to the door for people to grab on the way out.

We made our own bags by stitching unbleached parchment paper together, and trimming the edge with pinking shears. We’re definitely not suggesting that you need to hand stitch your own favor bags! But it’s actually really easy if you’re up for some extra DIY and/or are having a small wedding.

Parchment turned out to be a good material for stashing shortbread because it doesn’t soak up the butter from the crumbs. BUT it is not reliable when it comes to things sticking to it. Like the stickers we made. Just an FYI for anyone who might consider doing this. It might be better to finish them by stitching each bag closed with a paper tag for your note.

We designed a quick circular sticker in illustrator and printed them on full sheets of label paper. Then punched each sticker out using a 2″ circle punch. (Same idea as our date favors from ages ago.) We added a little ribbon twist under the sticker for a fun bit of color.

Wouldn’t these be cute in a shallow wooden crate, all lined up together with different ribbons? Perfect midnight snack after a night of dancing! Kristina posted the shortbread recipe on her personal blog this morn too, for those of you in the mood for a little baking.

Lots more Royal Wedding posts coming this week!

22 Apr

Dinner w/ Poppies & Posies

categories Details + Decor, Flowers + Greenery

Here’s a super luscious and delightful dinner party, designed by the ever-talented team at Poppies & Posies. Inspired by Michael Stuart NY’s amazing food and presentation, P+P decided to host their own little dinner party, inviting a bunch of similarly influential artists, stylists, and writers to meet, chat & exchange ideas over for a tasty local, organic dinner. From there, it grew into a fun little collaboration between friends and artists to create the most amazing get together.

The dinner was held at the lovely, lovely event space The Foundry (a favorite), and featured all kinds of warm, alluring details like glowy chandeliers, pretty candelabras, overflowing floral centerpieces, and of course some outstanding looking dishes prepared (of course) by Michael Stuart NY. The whole thing is seriously so charming and was beautifully photographed by Jen Huang.

Paperfinger created some customized ink stamps that doubled as place cards and favors… brilliant idea.

This sweet little dessert cart (full of yums treats by Tu-Lu’s Gluten Free Bakery) would be sooo easy to replicate and customize for your own dinner party, bridal shower, wedding reception, or any gathering. And it’s so cute!